As the workforce ages, needs arise to provide more work surface adjustability for the operator, helping to reduce repetitive strain injuries. In an office environment, there are several styles of furniture designed to provide a level of ergonomic value to the operator. Studies have shown a need to fine tune the position of the furniture in relation to the operator. For example, there is occasionally a need for a user to sit or stand at their work surface, to reduce the static load on the lumbar region of their backs. There is also an occasional need to adjust the viewing position of the monitor. For example, one can lower the monitor to a point below the work surface, which allows a user with corrected vision to view the monitor in a neutral posture, thus relieving static load on the neck.
One example of a means for raising and lowering the desk height is a column manufactured by Linak US. Linak's electric column enables a work surface to be lifted from a sitting to a standing height. Linak does not provide a desktop surface, or any other surface, to attach to the columns, so the columns are typically used with a furniture manufacturer's proprietary top surface. Such top surfaces are engineered to attach directly to the columns and maintain them in substantially parallel orientation.
After the furniture manufacturer has attached a top surface directly to one or more Linak columns, it is very difficult to modify the top surface without disrupting the parallel nature of the columns. That is, if an end user wishes to use its own top surface (such as a desk top), one runs the risk of altering the substantially parallel nature of the columns, and causing the columns to bind when raised or lowered. This makes custom fitting for individual operators extremely difficult. Thus, a limitation in the art is the ability to provide multiple or differently configured work surfaces to accommodate the user's work needs.
There remains a need for a modular designed sub-frame that will allow multiple configurations of work surfaces, while keeping single or multiple columns that have the ability to raise or lower a work station in parallel orientation. It would be advantageous to provide a means for maintaining the actuator legs in parallel while permitting flexibility in the selection of the attached top surface. The present invention provides such flexibility.
It would also be advantageous to provide the ability to raise and lower a monitor, for example, with a cantilevered arm, while also providing the ability to raise and lower the height of the remainder of a desktop. The present invention provides such devices with such ability.